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The Biden administration plans to take action soon on at least three of six Amazon investigations -- a move that could spark a litigation blitz to gain control of the iconic tech giant.The FTC has been investigating the internet giant on multiple fronts since at least 2019, investigating its abuse of power in its online marketplace and potential consumer privacy violations related to its Ring cameras and Alexa digital assistant.The agency is also reviewing Amazon's acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot. Any lawsuit against Amazon would be a high-profile move by the agency under Chair Lina Khan, a tech giant skeptic who rose to prominence with a 2017 academic paper that The paper specifically identifies Amazon as a modern-day monopoly that needs to be reined in.While Amazon has already been hit by local antitrust lawsuits in Washington, D.C. and California, the upcoming federal case will be the most significant challenge facing the global company. The exact timing of any cases or settlements is unclear.POLITICO spoke to more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of the FTC's competition and consumer protection team's investigations to get a full picture of how the agency is going after Amazon now, why it's not taking action on the company's recent major acquisition One Medical and what it might look like in the coming months. Things that happened. According to those who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the classified investigation:The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently weighing whether to challenge Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot, and the agency’s staff attorneys are leaning toward suing to block the deal, according to three people with knowledge of the investigation. The case could emerge in the coming months. It has at least two public privacy investigations, one into Amazon's Ring camera and security systems business and another into its Alexa voice assistant, for possible violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, according to four people familiar with the matter. Law". Results of at least one of the FTC's privacy probes are likely to come to fruition in the coming months, one of the people said. FTC staff previously recommended filing charges against Ring for alleged privacy and data security violations before Khan began. A wide-ranging antitrust case against Amazon's retail business is also likely in the coming months, multiple people briefed on the investigation said. While the details of the complaint are unclear, they could include bundling services through its Prime subscription business and using competitor data to beat rivals on its platform, according to some of the people. The FTC has been investigating nearly every aspect of the company's business since 2019, and a lawsuit has long been expected. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon could be filed in the coming months. The FTC is conducting a so-called "dark pattern" investigation into customers' difficulties canceling Prime and other services. Dark patterns are deceptive tactics websites use to trick users into doing things like subscribing to a more expensive service than they expected. It also opened a deceptive advertising investigation into the company's "Amazon Choice" label for offering certain products on its marketplace. The FTC is investigating how the label was used to promote a product that appeared in search results, including whether it was a premium game. Amazon insists not. Nicholas Thompson interviews David Limp on stage. Hold satellite subsidy. One Amazon executive is more worried about space junk. Representatives for the FTC and Amazon declined to comment on the investigation. It also opened a deceptive advertising investigation into the company's "Amazon Choice" label for offering certain products on its marketplace. The FTC is investigating how the label was used to promote a product that appeared in search results, including whether it was a premium game. Amazon insists not. Nicholas Thompson interviews David Limp on stage. Hold satellite subsidy. One Amazon executive is more worried about space junk. Representatives for the FTC and Amazon declined to comment on the investigation. It also opened a deceptive advertising investigation into the company's "Amazon Choice" label for offering certain products on its marketplace. The FTC is investigating how the label was used to promote a product that appeared in search results, including whether it was a premium game. Amazon insists not. Nicholas Thompson interviews David Limp on stage. Hold satellite subsidy. One Amazon executive is more worried about space junk. Representatives for the FTC and Amazon declined to comment on the investigation. One Amazon executive is more worried about space junk. Representatives for the FTC and Amazon declined to comment on the investigation. One Amazon executive is more worried about space junk. Representatives for the FTC and Amazon declined to comment on the investigation.Some people familiar with the agency’s strategy say the lack of action so far is a sign of the difficulty the agency faces dealing with a company as diverse as Amazon — a sign that the FTC is picking its cases carefully.The FTC has previously sued Amazon, accusing it of illegally withholding tips from some delivery drivers. The company settled the case and paid nearly $60 million to compensate drivers.Top law enforcement officials in the Biden administration have aggressively pursued corporate mergers and technology companies over the past year. The FTC sued last year to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision, and the Justice Department filed two separate lawsuits against Google over its search and advertising businesses, in addition to preparing an antitrust case against Apple.The FTC also lost a case blocking Meta's acquisition of the popular virtual reality app. While the judge in the case confirmed the FTC's new theory that it may be illegal for companies to source rather than manufacture products, he also said the agency has no facts to support its claims.In this environment, according to agency insiders and observers, the FTC is under intense pressure to successfully file an antitrust case against Amazon — especially as the company’s two largest deals in the past year have been unscathed. adopted in the event of opposition.When Amazon completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM Studios in March 2022, the agency's four commissioners were deadlocked over whether to intervene. Last month, the agency chose not to challenge the company's $3.9 billion acquisition of primary care provider One Medical, even though agency officials believed the deal was anticompetitive, according to three people familiar with the agency's decision. .The Roar of RoombasMuch of the FTC's investigation into Amazon was launched during the Trump administration, when Republican Chairman Joe Simmons began broad oversight of the tech giant.One exception is the $1.7 billion iRobot deal announced in August 2022, along with One Medical.The agency has not concluded its investigation into the deal and continues to gather documents and testimony from third parties, five people familiar with the matter said.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission staff believe Amazon.com, the leading U.S. online retailer, should not be allowed to acquire the largest maker of popular products sold on its platform, people familiar with the matter said.Among its questions, the agency was concerned that Amazon would favor iRobot’s Roomba over competing brands of robotic vacuums such as Samsung, these people said. The FTC is also concerned about how the addition of iRobot will increase Amazon's grip on the broader market for connected home devices. Amazon also owns home security company Ring and makes the popular Alexa voice assistant and Echo smart speakers. The FTC is asking whether Amazon will deny Roomba access to rival retailers entirely.The FTC also asked how the deal would increase Amazon's control over consumer data, as well as potential privacy hazards, but that wasn't a major concern, according to some people familiar with the matter."We are working with the relevant regulators to review the merger. We have no plans to operate iRobot in a different way than they are available at other retailers today in terms of availability," Amazon spokesman Curtis Eichelberger said. Offer iRobot products and continue to sell other products on Amazon.com. Amazon also plans to keep iRobot interoperable with other voice assistants, Eichelberger said.So far, Amazon has been largely non-responsive to the FTC's probe, refusing to provide information requested by the FTC, some of the people said.This can be a time-consuming tactic for the target company: merger reviews are subject to strict statutory time limits. In its in-depth review of the merger, the government has 30 days to decide whether to file a lawsuit after a company meets all the requirements of the investigation. Companies typically agree to give the FTC or the Justice Department more time, but Amazon has made no such concessions, the sources said.In this case, though, the FTC may still have time, as the companies still need approval from the European Union and the United Kingdom before completing the deal. These reviews are still in their early stages.An iRobot spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.A Roomba robot vacuum made by iRobot is displayed on a shelf. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently weighing whether to challenge Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot, and the agency’s staff attorneys are leaning toward suing to block the deal, according to three people with knowledge of the investigation. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Why the FTC didn't try to block the One Medical dealOne reason the FTC has so far taken no action against Amazon is that it's technically difficult for both enforcers and private plaintiffs to bring lawsuits against the tech giants -- in part because they control enforcers building cases, experts say All the data needed."These platforms have enormous informational advantages and unique access to evidence that the government or plaintiffs need to meet their burden of proof," Amanda Lewis said in Senate testimony this month. Lewis, a partner at Cuneo, Gilbert and Laduca, previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission and worked on technology and antitrust issues as a Hill staffer.Another example of the difficulty is the agency's recent absence of an antitrust case against Amazon: Amazon's $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical, a primary care company that provides physician services through individual and business subscriptions.The FTC investigated the One Medical deal extensively and found evidence of anticompetitive behavior that many at the agency thought was damning but ultimately approved the deal, multiple people familiar with the agency’s thinking said. Because they think the case is too difficult to win.That evidence includes Amazon's decision to abruptly end lengthy negotiations to poach some of One Medical's corporate customers at cheaper prices in favor of eliminating its competing Amazon Care service and acquiring the company, the people said.In one instance, Amazon tried to lure ride-hailing company Lyft into signing a deal for its own health care service, according to three people with knowledge of Lyft’s testimony during the merger review. Amazon offered to slash One Medical’s price and offer a nationwide network of doctors — but when Lyft was ready to sign up with Amazon, the retail giant announced it was buying One Medical, pulled out of talks with Lyft, and then said it would shut down Amazon Care, the three said. .A Lyft spokesman declined to comment.Other companies had similar testimony, two of them said. While many FTC staffers view the practice as anticompetitive and illegal — buying competitors instead of competing on merit — the agency ultimately decided it was too difficult to define precisely which markets Amazon monopolized, some of the people said. big."We made the decision independently of the One Medical acquisition, and the Amazon Care product and business model will not work in the long term until One Medical is acquired," Eichelberger said.For the FTC, time is not on their side. With the election just 19 months away and a possible change in government, it is in the agency's interest to deal with the cases as quickly as possible, lest priorities change in the new regime.
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